John Lewis Waller was a survivor. When he had the opportunity, he flourished into a wise, empathetic leader in his local, national, and international communities. Born into slavery, John spent his first decade on a plantation in southeast Missouri. He did not learn to read or write. In 1862…
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Imagine you’re planning a little get-together with friends. Casual food, some beer, music, a little dancing. Now invite the whole city. That’s the St. John’s Fiesta. Begun in 1980 as an effort to raise money for St. John's Church and then the “blue collar” needs of St. John’s School, the Fiesta has…
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The town of Lawrence was founded on August 1, 1854, by settlers sent by the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company. They were the first of 1,000 settlers sent to populate Kansas Territory with abolitionists. The Company was funded by a group of Boston abolitionists spurred to action by the new…
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It is rare, very rare, to have a physician as a university’s head basketball coach. To have two coach-physicians at the same institution, well, that’s winning-the-lottery-level unheard of. James Naismith, M.D., earned his undergraduate degree in theology and strongly considered going to seminary…
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Some people have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Others, such as Eleanor Coffin Henley, direct their generous spirit and God-given talent toward inevitable involvement in efforts to improve their community. Eleanor came to Lawrence in 1878 with her husband, Albert. They were…
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Lucy Hobbs Taylor learned that when you're the first, your effort has to be so much greater. You have to be greater than the prevailing societal certitude that you can't or shouldn't. You have to be greater because there aren't any maps. You must make the path and then walk it. Lucy Hobbs Taylor…
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In 1840, Robert and Susannah Miller faced a dilemma. Their new minister at the Scotch Presbyterian Church in Chester, South Carolina, had been tarred and feathered by townspeople after preaching against slavery. The Millers risked their standing in the community, their livelihood, and the safety of…
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On December 19, 1858, Jim Daniels took his life in his hands and asked an agent of the Underground Railroad for freedom for him, his wife Narcissus, and their children. The next night, John Brown, the radical abolitionist, came to their farmstead in Missouri and killed a slaveowner while liberating…
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Although his story was nearly forgotten, George Nash Walker was one of the highest-paid vaudeville actors in the country who also changed the culture of Black entertainment and blazed a trail of opportunity for future Black actors and actresses. Vaudeville was the first mass-produced entertainment…
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